Add parallel Print Page Options

A Ruler from Bethlehem

[a]But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
    whose origins are in the distant past,
    will come from you on my behalf.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Verses 5:2-15 are numbered 5:1-14 in Hebrew text.

‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
    are not least among the ruling cities[a] of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
    who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2:6a Greek the rulers.
  2. 2:6b Mic 5:2; 2 Sam 5:2.

42 For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.”[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 7:42 See Mic 5:2.

Before the mountains were born,
    before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
    from beginning to end, you are God.

Read full chapter

31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel[a] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:33 Greek over the house of Jacob.

For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen!

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9:6 Or Wonderful, Counselor.

A Branch from David’s Line

11 Out of the stump of David’s family[a] will grow a shoot—
    yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 11:1 Hebrew the stump of the line of Jesse. Jesse was King David’s father.

Zion’s Coming King

Rejoice, O people of Zion![a]
    Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
    He is righteous and victorious,[b]
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
    riding on a donkey’s colt.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 9:9a Hebrew O daughter of Zion!
  2. 9:9b Hebrew and is being vindicated.

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,[a]
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,[b]
    the one whom all nations will honor.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 49:10a Hebrew from between his feet.
  2. 49:10b Or until tribute is brought to him and the peoples obey; traditionally rendered until Shiloh comes.

17 He existed before anything else,
    and he holds all creation together.

Read full chapter

22 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take a branch from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. 23 It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 And all the trees will know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts the tall tree down and makes the short tree grow tall. It is I who makes the green tree wither and gives the dead tree new life. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I said!”

Read full chapter

Jesse Sends David to Saul’s Camp

12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons.

Read full chapter

16 On his robe at his thigh[a] was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 19:16 Or On his robe and thigh.

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.

Read full chapter

22 “The Lord formed me from the beginning,
    before he created anything else.
23 I was appointed in ages past,
    at the very first, before the earth began.

Read full chapter

“Long ago, as I was returning from Paddan-aram,[a] Rachel died in the land of Canaan. We were still on the way, some distance from Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). So with great sorrow I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 48:7 Hebrew Paddan, referring to Paddan-aram; compare Gen 35:9.

Introduction

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning,[a] whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 Greek What was from the beginning.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Read full chapter

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Read full chapter

11 Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.

Read full chapter

19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

Read full chapter

11 It said, “Write in a book[a] everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.[b] He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.[c]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:11 Or on a scroll.
  2. 1:13 Or like a son of man. See Dan 7:13. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
  3. 1:18 Greek and Hades.

14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.

Read full chapter

27 Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world,[a] things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:28 Or God chose those who are low born.

And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends